Feds charge steel erector with fraud for One World Trade Center work

Federal agents arrested Larry Davis, who owns DCM Erectors Inc., saying he used a minority-owned firm and a woman-owned company as fronts to quality for work performed by his firm.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 4, 2014

Welsh 'Hobbit House' has post-building permit problem

In Wales, a couple is trying to get a permit to keep their "hobbit house."

By Ron Gallagher • July 31, 2014

Explore the Trendline➔

Legal Issues

Contracts, disputes, change orders and delays can keep builders up at night. Construction Dive covers some of the top issues facing the industry.

By Construction Dive staff

President Obama orders federal contractors to disclose labor violations

A new executive order will make companies that want federal contracts over $500,000 disclose any violations in past three years.

By Ron Gallagher • July 31, 2014

U.S. Senate passes $8B Highway Trust Fund fix

As states who depend on federal money for highway work and the contractors they hire watch, senators have moved to force a real fix in December.

By Ron Gallagher • July 29, 2014

Minnesota sprinkler mandate for big homes survives challenge

Scheduled for next year, the new requirement had been the subject of an end-of-session repeal effort in the legislature.

By Ron Gallagher • July 29, 2014

10th-largest U.S. electrical contractor files for bankruptcy

The company did a lot of work in the Washington, D.C., area, but it's unclear how many jobs it had in progress.

By Ron Gallagher • July 25, 2014

8 companies cited for violations in Texas worker's death

After a man fell 29 feet at a site where condominiums are being built, OSHA levied fines on eight companies involved in the project.

By Ron Gallagher • July 23, 2014

Massachusetts court decision may aid condo trustees, hurt contractors

Massachusetts' highest court says it does not make sense to apply the doctrine of economic loss to suits about defective work in common areas.

By Ron Gallagher • July 22, 2014

Local-hiring requirements can stress contractors

Incentives to get companies to build in certain states often come with local-hiring requirements for construction work, and that becomes the contractor's problem.

By Ron Gallagher • July 22, 2014

Flooding report has big implications for builders

The Reuters analysis shows East Coast flooding has increased significantly in recent decades.

By Ron Gallagher • July 17, 2014

Police say worker on jobsite took video of tenant showering

In New York City, a woman looked at her bedroom window one morning and saw a cell phone propped on a bucket on a fire escape, recording video of her.

By Ron Gallagher • July 13, 2014

Detroit residency requirement a challenge for hockey arena construction

When it turned over land for a new home for the Red Wings, the city included a provision that 51% of the construction workforce had to live in Detroit.

By Ron Gallagher • July 8, 2014

Agency begins mapping disputed, unknown fault lines in L.A. area

The California State Geological Survey's renewed mapping of the Santa Monica Fault and others could mean problems for building projects.

By Ron Gallagher • July 8, 2014

Feds punish banks for discriminating against mothers in mortgage decisions

Several institutions have settled federal complaints that they discriminated against applicants if a woman was pregnant or on maternity leave.

By Ron Gallagher • July 7, 2014

Two NYC firms charged in safety inspection scam

City inspectors started an investigation after a routine check found logs signed by a man who had died a month earlier.

By Ron Gallagher • July 6, 2014

EPA wants to smooth conflicting rules on brownfield assessments

Companies that want to develop properties that might have chemical contamination will have to follow only the most ASTM method.

By Ron Gallagher • June 30, 2014

Housing advocates sue Sacramento over new NBA arena

A coalition of two housing groups and an environmental organization have filed a suit asking for $40 million from the Sacramento Kings.

By Ron Gallagher • June 30, 2014

In NYC, 'affordable' housing means your income is $100K -- or higher

At the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, affordable housing means apartments for families of four making that and above.

By Ron Gallagher • June 29, 2014

Developer plots $1B project to build towers on Boston waterfront

Don Chiofaro proposes tearing down the concrete Boston Harbor Garage and erecting 600-foot and a 500-foot officer and residential glass towers and public space.

By Ron Gallagher • June 28, 2014

Suit by Bell, CA, targets construction company

The city that is financially wrecked wants $3.2 million.

By Ron Gallagher • June 25, 2014

Federal settlement to bring $3.8M to workers on NYC project

MDG Design & Construction LLC and other companies will have to pay workers who did not get prevailing wages on the Grand Street Guild rehabilitation.

By Ron Gallagher • June 17, 2014

Houston police discover huge drug stash in excavator arm

Houston officers stopped a truck hauling a Cat excavator Monday night and found hundreds of pounds of marijuana after cutting open the arm.

By Ron Gallagher • June 17, 2014

Ventura, CA wants developers to pay water fee

The Ventura City Council is considering an ordinance that would impose a $15,000-per-acre-foot fee on development that does not have sufficient water rights.

By Ron Gallagher • June 16, 2014

4,000-resident NC town approves development for 60,000

Pittsboro, North Carolina, a small county seat with the courthouse in the middle of a circle where two-lane roads meet, voted 4-1 for the 7,500-acre Chatham Park.

By Ron Gallagher • June 11, 2014

No stranger to tornadoes, Moore, OK, revamps building code

The city is the first in the nation to adopt provisions in its code specifically to increase the ability of buildings to withstand high winds.

By Ron Gallagher • June 9, 2014